WisteriaMoon
I wasn't sure how long I was left asleep or unconscious under that building. Strangely, everything had kept its place, but only around half the Jammers remained. It didn't even seem like a building, to be honest. It seemed more like a stupid whatever. Not even close to the graphics on a game.
But how could I know this was Animal Jam at all? I pulled myself up and looked around. At least, this was a place that looked strangely like Animal Jam's Jamaa, only I couldn't figure out exactly where. It looked to me like Coral Canyons, maybe? The problem was, there was almost no stone, yet there were cacti. Maybe it was the Canyons Pathway, but there was no water nearby. It felt unusually dry.
Sighing, I stood up and wandered around. My brain was still spinning in circles so hard that it felt it was about to wear out my skull and leave a bunch of holes in it. Nobody was around. Strutting forward and looking around, I felt a sudden heaviness all over me. Sitting down, I felt around to see what had happened.
Looking at my hands, I realized I was wearing elf bracelets, or what looked like them...just like my Sleeping Desertflower animal. On top of my head, there was my top hat, on my neck, my spiked collar (which felt completely ridiculous), and on my back, that sword (again, it felt ridiculous, but also heavy at the same time). The only thing missing was the tail armor, which made sense, because humans don't really have tails.
I kept on walking, taking a turn every now and then. I heard the sudden slosh of water after a few minutes. Strange, I thought. How can there be water in this place? It's so dry and empty. Walking in the direction of the sound, I came to the shoreline of what seemed like the ocean. There was marine life swimming around and lots of coral in the dark, murky water. Scratching my head, I was just pondering over why this was until a small voice peeped up from behind me.
"Wondering where you are, correct?"
I spun around, startled. I glanced around, but I didn't see anybody.
"Look down."
I tilted my head down slightly and there was an annoyingly cute black dog sitting there with her head cocked in one direction. I had a strong urge to reach out and pet her but thought better about it. She must be a serious dog who doesn't want to be petted.
Instead, I nodded. "I don't remember exactly what happened before," I said. "All I remember was purple, and then I was here."
"You're on an island in the middle of Bahari Bay. In your world, WisteriaMoon, it's not visible on the world map because it's so small."
I nodded, taking all that information in. So I was on an island? In the middle of what seemed like nowhere? It would be hard to find a way to get off this island considering Bahari Bay was all around it.
Only then did it strike me oddly that the dog knew who I was and also didn't seem like one of the animals in Animal Jam. Confused, I asked her about it and she looked around frantically.
"I, um…" she stammered, "I have something to do. Maybe we'll meet again? Later, maybe? Yeah, that's fine...goodbye!" Then she disappeared.
I scratched my head and shrugged, trying to forget about it as I turned back the way I came. That dog sure was mysterious, but this was Jamaa. Nothing could really be the same, could it? At least she didn't seem as if she was with the phantoms. That would be quite frightening.
Cosmo
I looked around for about the hundredth time that night. Nothing seemed to be wrong. But how come it looked like the sky had shattered? Nothing could be wrong, could there? I'd seen something fall from the top of the mountain where the feather was located, but why would the feather fall out of its place if everything was peaceful now? I saw Jammers creeping out of buildings and trying to comprehend what exactly had happened. Besides, if the feather fell out of its place, Jamaa would be collapsing, us Alphas would be dying, and that sure was not happening.
Shrugging, I turned away from the scene and tried "teleporting" to find the rest of the Alphas, but there was no response. Even more puzzled, I tried again, but there was still no response. I shoved my staff at a tree, and it snapped.
I stood there with my mouth hanging open, not understanding why this was. Then I screamed and ran around like crazy.
"OH MY MIRA! WHAT IN THE NAME OF JAMAA HAS HAPPENED?!"
Snowyclaw
I opened my eyes to a cloudy sky. I could see the sun struggling to poke through the large blanket of clouds, though it wasn't making any progress.
Standing up, I looked around myself and nearly dropped dead at the sight of everyone else lying on the ground unconscious. It all snapped back into me: just doing my own thing until the computer started sucking me in and I was falling through purple. Just purple. Everyone was screaming and screaming and screaming.
I felt all around me and realized I was wearing a bunch of random things...some strange-looking bracelets and a sword hooked onto my back. Walking forward towards the rest of us, I was just about to call to them until there was a sickening smack and I was thrown onto my back.
Grunting and looking up, I realized I'd hit a large branch. But I wasn't tall enough to reach that branch...was I? I stood up again and looked up. No, I was not tall enough. So why did it knock me over?
Bringing my hands to the top of my head, I almost wanted to cry. Those antlers from my Old Frozenspirit wolf were also on me. At the moment, I wanted nothing but to yank them off - which is exactly what I tried doing.
Pull, yank, bend. They didn't budge. I probably looked like one of Santa's reindeer that got turned into a human.
Sitting down, I sighed. With those antlers, I couldn't get through doors, I couldn't walk under trees, I couldn't fit through narrow openings...I bet all the others had better advantages than me. All I hoped was that there wasn't any random black ring pattern all over me...yuck.
That was when the entire group stirred and they sat up. I stared in shock at what they'd turned into. Julian2 was surprisingly tall compared to the rest of us, Aparri had that hideous braided beard hanging from his face, Skorm's spiked collar stuck out what seemed like 50 feet away, Bepper's eyes had suddenly turned huge, and...to them, I probably looked ridiculous too.
I suddenly remembered my antlers. No, I thought. I can't let them see me like this. So I ducked behind a bush, pulled it up, and popped it onto my head, hoping my head was hidden. That's gonna have to do.
Crawling over to the other Jammers, I prayed that nothing could be seen.
Julian2 turned to me. "Hey, uh...everyone? What happened? Snowyclaw? Are you okay? I sure hope you didn't put a bush hat on top of you before this happened."
I shrugged. "I guess I did, I guess I'll have to keep it on. It won't budge."
Julian2 sighed and sank down to the ground. "I never thought I had to carry this sword on my back," he muttered. "I can barely even see a single thing because of this stupid monocle." He stood up and started pacing back and forth. "If only - "
"Julian!" Clark screamed. "Look out! You're going to run into - "
"Be quiet, Clark," Julian2 snapped. He was still walking forward. "I need to think about this whole - YEOW!" He was knocked to the ground like I was just a few minutes ago.
It was silent for a few moments until Clark finished his sentence.
"...a branch," Clark whispered.
I sighed. I was thinking about what to say until I caught a flash of pink and brown from the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw WisteriaMoon walk toward us. She...looked even more ridiculous than Skorm and Aparri combined.
WisteriaMoon sighed. "It looks like we're awake," she said sadly. "I was walking and suddenly I came to the coast of an ocean. Then a dog stopped by and told me we were on an island in the middle of Bahari Bay. It's too small to see on the World Map, and it took me a few minutes to walk to that place at all, so I bet we're really darn far away from Crystal Sands."
I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, that'll be a problem."
Then a gust of wind flew by, and three seconds later, everyone was staring at me in utter shock.
Confused, I didn't know what was going on. Had they noticed my antlers? I thought they were covered up. As I moved my hands to the top of my head, I thought about it. No, they couldn't possibly have...oh no.
The wind had blown the bush off of my head and now everyone could see those ridiculous antlers of mine!
I felt my face go hot right up to the tip of my ears. "I-I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I know I look really strange. I'll probably just be a bother on our journey back because I have these antlers that can't fit through any shortcuts…"
Aparri sighed. "I don't reckon there are any trees - or anything that high - above the ocean, which is where we have to cross. At least you don't have some random blanket with holes in it hanging from your back like a three-year-old who wants to play Superman."
"What about me?" Julian2 just about whined. "I almost can't see a thing with this stupid monocle!"
"I can hardly breathe with this tight collar on…" Skorm choked out. "It's so tight and it probably looks so weird."
"I feel you, Skorm," WisteriaMoon muttered. "We're stuck here for no reason and it'll probably take years to get back."
"And it's all because of Aparri," Skorm sneered.
Aparri sprung up. "Uh, excuse me? You were the one who sold items on eBay in the first place. If it hadn't been for you, I never would have told AJHQ."
"As if I care! If it hadn't been for you, getting me banned, I never would have screamed and cracked that screen!"
"Don't you go blaming me. You were the one who screamed. You had a choice to do so or not to do so, and you chose to scream."
Skorm started pulling at his top hat. "Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."
Aparri cocked his head and started laughing hysterically. "Haha, really?"
Skorm stomped his foot on the ground. "I didn't try to say that. I said: …"
There was a pause.
"Your message was blocked because it may not be appropriate."
We all laughed, especially Aparri, who was now literally rolling in the dirt.
Skorm shook his head. "Ugh, whatever!" he shouted. "It was Aparri's fault we're here in the first place! I don't even know why I exist here if I was banned! So I shouldn't be helping! I didn't do anything wrong!"
Aparri only rolled his eyes, stood back up, and used his elbow to jab Skorm in the stomach, causing Skorm to stumble backward. "Bro," he said coolly as if nothing had happened. "You did something wrong, and you need to own up to it. You sold items and that's that. You deserve the consequences."
I could only agree. "Aparri's right," I said. "You did wrong when you promised you wouldn't. Just create another account."
"And if you're still banned, then don't play Animal Jam at all," Julian2 added. "There's still Transformice. I'm sure Atelier801 is gonna give you a chance at that."
Bepper took a few steps toward us. "Could you just please cut it out? I need to get extra sleep before winter break is over, and I'd like to enjoy the last of it before school starts again! If we just stay here and argue, we'll never get back!"
I knew Bepper was right. I still had college work to do and I didn't want to fall behind. We had better get going. The question was: how would we get back?
Skorm
I grumbled again. "Well, Aparri can figure it out all on his own, then. Because I ain't helping."
That was when Aparri flung his fist into my face. I was two-something years older than him, but I'll freely admit that he was a whole crap stronger than he ever seemed. Before I could even register what happened, he'd dragged me onto my feet and pinned me against a tree.
"First of all," he said calmly yet firmly, "I did not ban you. If I just said 'Ban Skorm', AJHQ wouldn't just ban you without a reason. I never even wanted you to be banned in the first place. Second of all, you would've gotten banned one way or another. It might not have been so soon, but you still would have gotten banned."
I wasn't about to give in. I struggled free of Aparri's tight grip and grabbed onto his shoulders. I threw him down to the ground and started hitting him everywhere I could, but it wasn't long before he got hold of me again and started punching me all over the place.
There was lots of shouting, and everyone else tried to break the two of us up. But we persisted. I was going to win this fight, to show Aparri that I was better than him, that he was a loser. After a while, I knew I was winning - his punches barely affected me and he looked almost ready to give up.
"Hey! Hey, you two, cut it out!" Clark the Stacey shouted. His sharp grip nearly made me scream as he yanked me away from Aparri. "Stop fighting! That's not going to get you anywhere!"
Aparri slowly got up from the ground. He was bruised all over and blood was dripping down the side of his mouth. "Yeah, right, Skorm," he said. "No reason to fight."
Telling me not to fight? When he was the one who banned me and also started this fight? "You started it!" I shouted. "You started this! You - "
"Skorm, that is enough!" Clark shouted again. "Right now, I'm going to leave you here for a few minutes, alone, and no coming to us. We're just around the corner. If there's some sort of emergency, come find us, but otherwise stay put. Aparri, that's a warning for you. To both of you, this is a really tight situation right now and we can't dawdle and just stand here arguing. We have to use teamwork and get out of this place."
Aparri only gets a warning and I get a huge time-out like kindergarteners get? How was that fair if Aparri had clearly punched me more than I'd punched him, he'd started the fight, and he'd banned me? And Clark was watching all that! Clark should know better!
I wrestled free of Clark's death grip and turned to face him. "How - how is that fair? How is that fair at all?!" I yelled. "Aparri started it and he punched me way more than I punched him and he only gets a warning and I have to get a stupid time-out that only little kids get?! You obviously like Aparri more than you like me!"
"Skorm," Clark said firmly, calming his tone. "You do understand I or one of the moderators would suspend both you and Aparri right now, correct? But right now, I'm afraid that is far beyond my abilities at the moment. So I'm 'suspending' one of you."
Bepper stepped in. "Why not both of them?"
"Yeah," Julian2 said. "If you want to suspend both of them, why not just leave both alone for a few minutes? That way, it's at least fair."
"I can't," explained Clark. "If I do, those two will just end up fighting again."
"But - but why me?!" I screeched. "How come Aparri's never the one who gets the consequences and it's always the other person, even if Aparri was the one who did the wrong thing?!"
"Because you already are banned, and it only makes sense for you to experience those consequences whenever you can, even in a situation like this. Now, I'm going to leave you here alone for a few minutes. When you're ready and calmed down, come around the corner of that rock. We'll be discussing how to get out of here, and at the moment, we don't need your ideas."
With that, the rest walked away. Aparri gave me that "nice try" look of his and suddenly grabbed my left shoulder. I had an instant thought that he was going to punch me again until he flung me backward, causing me to land on my back. Then he wiped away some of the blood on his face with a smirk and walked off.
Rolling onto my stomach, I tried to catch my breath. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Clark and AJHQ didn't care about me anymore? And it was all because of Aparri? I never thought life could be so unfair.
I scowled as I slammed my fist onto the ground.
Damn you, Aparri!
Graham
I held the feather in my hands. It was all we had left. Our only hope. But it had fallen so far down from its pedestal where it should rest. There were a few ways up, but it would take so long, and considering the fact that we couldn't just get where we needed whenever we wanted - we were just like ordinary Jammers now that the feather wasn't placed correctly - it would be difficult to get around.
It seems Jammers used common sense much better than we did, but there was a force outside of where the feather should be that no ordinary Jammer could pass through. We couldn't just drag a random Jammer out of their home, anyway.
Greely was pacing around. "I shouldn't have set up that barrier, otherwise we'd be able to get - "
"Told ya this would happen," Sir Gilbert snarled.
I sighed, twirling the feather around in my hands. "Will you two stop arguing? We need to figure out a way to get up there and get this feather back onto its pedestal where it belongs, and you know what happens if we don't. After four months - "
"After four months," Liza, Cosmo, Sir Gilbert, Greely, and Peck mumbled irritatingly, "if Mira's Feather is not restored to the pedestal, everything and everyone linked to Jamaa whatsoever - even from the tiniest detail or if they are unaware of it - shall collapse."
I rolled my eyes. Know-it-alls. "You do know it? Alright, then, let's get to work since there is no time to waste. Since we can't get up there on our own and we're more a target for the phantoms, why don't we get some Jammers - "
"Jammers!" Greely shouted, spinning around, his chain necklace rattling and his worn purple cape nearly striking us all in the face. "You know how stupid it is for Jammers to play hero and think they can place Mira's Feather back inside the pedestal. I will not - I repeat, NOT - have a Jammer of any kind to do an Alpha's job!"
Even though I knew what kind of Alpha Greely was, I could never understand exactly why he didn't want Jammers to help. They would do anything to protect their home, as far as I knew. "Why not?" I said. "It's not like they're going to ruin our reputation or make us seem we're not fit for our job or something."
"Graham's right," Liza butted in. "We might be Alphas, but sometimes we need to let Jammers adventure and be a hero for once. Also, Greely, didn't the Jammers save you from that eruption or something?"
"Some Jammers did save Greely from a bunch of places, but I still think it was Greely who saved them afterward by stopping the eruption," Cosmo said.
I was just standing there, thinking about their words until Peck bounded over and snatched the feather out of my hands. I was just about to yell at her to not play around until she shoved her hand up high into the air, holding the feather as if she had just won the world.
"What are you doing…?" Sir Gilbert said in an are-you-serious and tired voice.
"Hmph!" Peck said in a victorious voice. "Who says we need Jammers? I can do this all by myself! See?" She began jumping up the path randomly, rocks crumbling from underneath her quick feet. "I'm a tiny bunny who can jump real high! So if I get stuck on a ledge, I don't need to worry about where to go next!"
Cosmo walked closer and looked up at Peck. "Peck," he mumbled irritatingly, "going up that way is going to take way more than the four months we have. Besides, how can I trust that you're not just going to fall off or lose the feather in some cave?"
There was no way I could contradict. "Cosmo's right, Peck," I said. "You ran off randomly before and right now we can't trust that you won't get yourself into trouble. I understand how you want to be able to do something for once, but - uh, Peck? Is everything alright?"
Peck was struggling to climb up a ledge, but she wasn't moving and the rocks were only slipping and sliding from underneath her feet. She was grunting and trying to jump up, but gravity refused to let her go. Suddenly, she slid all the way down and fell with a plop on her butt.
Exactly what Cosmo and I meant, Peck.
Liza caught the feather in the air and held it in her hands. She slowly shook her head, obviously irritated and worried.
Peck scowled and leaped up at the ledge again, but was brought to a halt by Greely, who slid over and knocked Peck out of her leap with his snout. Peck muttered to herself and tried again and again, but Greely continued to block her path. After a while, Peck just sat there, pouting.
"Aw, whatsamatta?" Greely teased in a mocking voice. "Can't get past a wolf?"
Liza sighed. "Greely, don't do that to Peck. You might not want a Jammer to help us but it looks like that they're our only hope. I'll send Tavie out to see if there's anyone fit to help us. At the moment, I just hope that some of those more well-known Jammers will stay out of the way for the moment."
Greely scowled and turned away, obviously wanting to be alone.
Phil
Mommy and Daddy always said I should never play with the Jammers. They said they were bad and they were different from us phantoms. I knew they probably didn't like them, but I think Jammers were fun to play with. They thought I was the cutest thing alive!
I would run around and spin around and all the Jammers would come up to me. They'd say I was adorable and that they wished all phantoms could be like that.
If only that was true!
One night, I heard Daddy talking to Mommy about something. I knew it was wasn't right to eavesdrop on others, but I couldn't help it. Daddy sounded real excited and worried at the same time while Mommy was pretty much quiet.
Daddy had said he wanted to find a blue feather. Something called Mira's Feather. I wonder who Mira is, and she sounds legendary! I hope I get to meet her! And if I do, I also hope that she'll give Daddy one of her feathers, so Daddy will be happy!
I wasn't really sure if Mommy and Daddy were planning on telling me. And if they are, then that means I could go with them on a big adventure just like big phantoms get to do!
A/N: Phil's already seemingly becoming more adorable e3e
